INDIANAPOLIS — Years of hard work will be rewarded with diplomas Saturday, May 10, when the Indiana University School of Medicine confers degrees on 399 physicians, scientists and researchers.
Saturday’s commencement will begin at 10 a.m. in the Sagamore Ballroom at the Indiana Convention Center. On Sunday, May 11, IUPUI commencement ceremonies will fill the Convention Center Halls A, B and C.
The IU School of Medicine will award:
- 298 Doctor of Medicine degrees
- 41 Doctor of Philosophy degrees
- 31 Master of Science degrees
- 13 Master of Science in clinical research degrees
- 6 Master of Science in medical science degrees
- 5 combined M.D./MBA degrees
- 5 combined M.D./Ph.D. degrees
The graduation speaker will be Darrell G. Kirch, M.D., president and CEO of the Association of American Medical Colleges, which represents the nation’s medical schools, teaching hospitals and academic societies. Dr. Kirch speaks and publishes widely on the need for transformation in the nation’s health care system and how academic medicine can lead that change across medical education, medical research and patient care. Before becoming the association’s president in 2006, Dr. Kirch served as the dean and academic health system leader of two institutions, the Medical College of Georgia and the Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center.
Jay L. Hess, M.D., Ph.D., MHSA, who became vice president for university clinical affairs and dean of the IU School of Medicine in September, will officiate at his first IU commencement.
“The commencement ceremony is steeped in tradition and is an important time in the lives of our graduates as they transition to careers that will affect the quality of life for many, if not all, of us,” Dr. Hess said. “The IU School of Medicine is committed to providing the extensive education necessary to enable them to pursue their dreams and make a difference in the future of health care.”
A special segment of the ceremony is reserved for the newly named physicians. Following the formal hooding ceremony, the new doctors will repeat in unison the time-honored Physician’s Oath, promising, among other things, to practice their profession “with conscience and dignity” and always considering the health of their patients first and foremost.